“If the love we say we have for Christ is always calculating and safe, it is not love at all.”
Marvin R. Knight
What Does it Mean to Be Devoted to Christ?
The word “devotion” means great love, loyalty, and enthusiastic zeal. If we say we love something, but that love never carries us beyond ourselves or above what we are comfortable with, it is not love of the highest kind. If the love we say we have for Christ is always calculating and safe; if it never launches out in faith from the shoreline into the deep, it is not love at all. It may be affection or warm feelings, but it’s not the kind of agape love the Scriptures speak of. As Christians, we can fnd ourselves devoted to many things: sports, work, hobbies, politics, friends, and family. Devotion to Christ is something similar, yet different. There are scores of people, attending church religiously, who do not want to be devoted to Jesus Himself, but to the cause He started. Many people who call themselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ. They admire Him, respect Him, and even speak kindly of Him; they would never disrespect Him. However, are they devoted to Him? We must ask this question of ourselves.
Spiritual devotion and human devotion are similar in that both involve sacrifce and commitment. They both involve time and energy. However, they differ in three ways: the frst difference is at the point of origin, the second difference is in the Person or object, and the third difference is with the motivation and power. The origin of human devotion begins with us. It is something we choose because of some personal interest or attachment. However, spiritual devotion does not start with us; it starts with God.
This was an excerpt from the study, “First Things First.” Download the full study guide here.